NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden resurfaced today after more than a month in hiding and made clear he wants to take asylum in Russia.

At a closed-door meeting at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport with Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International heads, the former employee of the NSA and the CIA said he has been granted asylum by several South American countries but is unable to take up their offers because the U.S. has revoked his passport.

The former National Security Agency worker, who revealed details of a U.S.
intelligence programme to monitor internet activity has been staying in the transit lounge at
Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since June 23.

During Friday's meeting Edward Snowden told human rights activists he plans to stay in Russia temporarily, but officials say they haven't received any request

According to Ellen Barry, of the New York Times who was in contact with Tatiana Lokshina, of Human Rights Watch,who was present at the meeting, Snowden says he is recognised as an asylum
seeker by the UN High Commission on Refugees – but the U.S., he says,
does not recognise this, as the Morales plane affair showed.

He has urged international organisations to petition the U.S. and EU not to interfere with his right to seek asylum.

Referring
to Putin's condition that he
can only stay if he stops harming the U.S., Snowden reportedly has said:
'No actions I take or plan are meant to harm the U.S. ... I want the U.S.
to
succeed.'

Guarded: The world's media were eager to get a glimpse of the fugitive whistleblower who remains at the police guarded transit area of the airport, where the meeting took place

Genri Reznik, a prominent lawyer and head of the Moscow bar association, spoke to the media at Sheremetyevo airport regarding Snowden

Vladimir Lukin, president's commissioner on human rights, who was also present, pictured speaking with media upon his arrival in Sheremetyevo airport to meet Edward Snowden

Ms Barry was in contact with Human Rights Watch's Tatiana Lokshina, who was present throughout the Snowden meeting.

Snowden told the meeting that he has received offers from Venezuela, Russia, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador and he thanked them all. The offer from Venezuela has been made formally.

He said he accepts all the offers, present and future.

Snowden said he wants help in guaranteeing his safe passage to Latin America.

Journalists were keen to speak with anyone who was present at the meeting, including Olga Kostina (C), a member of the Public Chamber of Russia

Human Rights Watch deputy director Tanya Lokshina (C) spoke to the media extensively after the meeting, explaining Snowden's position and what he proposes to do

He will submit an asylum claim to Russia today, but he plans to go to Latin America eventually, Ms Lokshina reported.

Ms Lokshina quoted him on her Twitter account as saying: 'I am only in a position to accept Russia's offer because of my inability to travel.'

The Kremlin said previously that Snowden had withdrawn a previous request for asylum in Russia.

Snowden's Facebook email inviting NGOs to meet him...

I have been extremely fortunate to enjoy and accept many offers of support and asylum from brave countries around the world.

These
nations have my gratitude, and I hope to travel to each of them to
extend my personal thanks to their people and leaders. By refusing to
compromise their principles in the face of intimidation, they have
earned the respect of the world.

Unfortunately,
in recent weeks we have witnessed an unlawful campaign by officials in
the U.S. Government to deny my right to seek and enjoy this asylum under
Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The
scale of threatening behavior is without precedent: never before in
history have states conspired to force to the ground a sovereign
President's plane to effect a search for a political refugee [a
reference to the plane of Bolivia’s Evo Morales].

This
dangerous escalation represents a threat not just to the dignity of
Latin America or my own personal security, but to the basic right shared
by every living person to live free from persecution.

I
invite the Human Rights organizations and other respected individuals
addressed to join me on 12 July at 5:00PM at Sheremetyevo Airport in
Moscow for a brief statement and discussion regarding the next steps
forward in my situation.

Your cooperation and support will be greatly appreciated in this matter.

Sincerely,Edward Joseph Snowden

After the meeting, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said he is unaware of a formal asylum request from Snowden, according to Reuters.

Russian MP Vyacheslav Nikonov was among those who met Snowden today.

The Duma member told reporters before the meeting that he expected Mr Snowden called for it to seek asylum in Russia.

Ms Lokshina said that Snowden wants to remain in Russia and travel,
and he wants international organisations to petition the U.S. and EU not
to interfere with that.

In
interview with Russian media ofter the meeting, Ms Lokshina said he
feels safe in the airport, where he said conditions for him are 'fine', but he knows he cannot stay there for ever.

Lokshina was being absolutely besieged by the press.

When asked if he would stop his activities, he said there was nothing to stop because he felt his activities were not harming the U.S.

WikiLeaks, which has published the confidential documents provided by Snowden while he has been unable to travel, has tweeted that it will be releasing Snowden's statement to human rights groups this evening.

Snowden invited Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, a representative from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and Transparency International, a global corruption watchdog, to meet with him via a letter on Facebook (published right).

He is expected to give a statement soon.

In the letter to human rights watch organisations asking them to meet with him, he said: 'I have been extremely fortunate to enjoy and accept many offers of support and asylum from brave countries around the world.

'These nations have my gratitude, and I hope to travel to each of them to extend my personal thanks to their people and leaders.'

He urged cooperation and support of these organisations and claimed the threats from the U.S.represent a 'threat to the dignity of Latin America' and threat this 'personal security' and a threat to the 'basic right shared by every
living person to live free from persecution'.

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Yesterday U.S. officials criticised China for failing to extradite Mr Snowden when he was in Hong Kong.

It came at the end of two days of high-level talks between the US and China on security and the economy.

The world's two largest economies had announced their plans for a treaty to combat climate change.

Attack: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns (left) criticised China for failing to extradite Mr Snowden when he was in Hong Kong following two days of high-level talks between the US and China on security and the economy

The escape route is fraught with problems for Snowden, and would mean him having to gain access to Russia and then taking a huge detour

But Deputy Secretary of State William
Burns used the opportunity to say the US was very disappointed with how
authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong handled Mr Snowden's case by
refusing to extradite him before he flew from Hong Kong to Russia.

'China's handling of this case was
not consistent with ... the new type of relationship that we both seek
to build,' he said, referring to the summit a month ago between
President Barack Obama and China's new president, Xi Jinping, at a
California resort.

Mr Obama also expressed
disappointment about the Snowden case when he met the two leaders of the
Chinese delegation yesterday in the Oval Office, a White House
statement said.

State Councillor Yang Jiechi retorted
in his remarks at the talks that the handling of the Snowden case by
authorities in semi-autonomous Hong Kong was 'beyond reproach.

The Obama administration say U.S. diplomats are working behind the scenes to make it difficult
for Snowden to find safe harbor in any of the nations that have offered
him asylum.

Snowden has received a temporary travel
document to fly to Caracas, Venezuela, and both Bolivia and Nicaragua
have also offered him political asylum, but White House Press Secretary
Jay Carney told reporters during a regular briefing that the United
States will do what it can to stop him.

An air plane, a supposed Aeroflot flight to Havana, rolls out in preparation for a take-off seen through a window of Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow, Russia

It's not clear whether the Obama
administration is hoping a Latin American nation will double-cross
Snowden and offer him up to Washington after he arrives from Russia.

Sources
say Snowden will not be allowed to board the only Aeroflot plane that
offers direct connections to Caracas, a regular service to Cuban capital
Havana.

The routing
overflies both the EU and the US and there are fears the plane will be
denied rights to Western airspace, and forced to land, leading to
Snowden's arrest.

The direct distance from Moscow to Caracas is 6,175 miles but it appeared too far for Snowden.

The escape route for Snowden is fraught with problems.

SNOWDEN MOST LIKELY TO TAKE A PRIVATE JET BUT IT WON'T COME EASY...

In order for Snowden to get from Moscow to the Venezuelan capital of Caracas without facing threat of U.S. extradition he would need to take an indirect, 7,000 mile route to avoid U.S. airspace.

Cuba is the only country in which Snowden could land safely in a commercial plane without facing extradition but would have to pass through U.S. airspace or that of a U.S. ally whereby it could be forced to land prematurely.

A private jet is considered the best bet for Snowden but it is likely to cost in the region of $200,000 to charter and would need to be of a certain size in order to reach Caracas the long way round without refuelling.

So far, Venezuela has yet to offer to cover the cost of Snowden’s journey, meaning he will have to rely on either a private donor or Wikileaks to stump up the money.

A Gulfstream V jet would be up to the job but it then becomes a question of how many are available in Russia and who would be prepared to face the wrath of America by loaning one to its most wanted man.

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Runaway spy Edward Snowden breaks cover at Russian airport and reveals to the world¿s media that he intends apply for asylum in the country